Day 31: And it's a Wrap!

Today is October 31st, it's Halloween AND it's the last day of the 31 day writing challenge.

Hallelujah!

I didn't write every day. I ended up missing 7 days. I could beat myself up about not having kept to this challenge perfectly but I'm not perfect. While this challenge marched on, life also was marching on. What did I learn about blogging over these 31 days? That's the big question!

I learned that trying to write in a style that others would find interesting is HARD!

I learned that, while I have all of these really interesting ideas floating about my head at all times, it's hard to keep focused and get them down into words on the computer. Words are usually easy for me but blogging about my life and daily events is HARD!

Carving out time in the day to just sit down and write is HARD!

Are you sensing a theme here yet?

BUT, while trying to write my own posts, I have had the opportunity to read many, many posts from fellow Clumsy Bloggers and fellow 31 Days bloggers. These posts have been heart wrenching, funny, serious, informative, amazing, and so varied as the voices of everyone came through on each of their pages. I have found new friends to follow who are sharing their lives, dreams, hopes and fears. What a great experience!

So today I sit here in the sunshine in my writing corner (my recliner in the living room) and look back over the 31 days. I'm glad that I accepted the challenge. I accept that I fell off the wagon and then climbed shakily back up on to finish. I think it's really important to realize that admitting to yourself and others that it was hard vs. just giving up and not finishing is something to celebrate. Now, moving forward, I know that the fact that I was able to write on most days will give me the courage and the motivation to set a writing schedule and keep to it -- especially if it's not 31 days IN A ROW!!! 

The big question is: Will I do this challenge again next year?? We'll see...  Will I still be writing on my blog? Will it improve? Will it increase in followers? Or will it just be a place where I share my stories once in a while? Time will tell. 

For anyone considering doing a challenge like this one - JUST DO IT! It's hard but it's definitely worth it as a growing experience!

For my Cousin Joyce, that book you want me to write is still somewhere inside my head. I'm not sure if I'm up to it just yet. This challenge was sure an eye opener! But I had good company!

Day 29 Our future learns about the Past

Today we had an easy commute to "school" because school was coming to us!

Today the JROTC from our son's school is coming to tour our cemetery. Every year the Corps takes at least one field trip to visit historical military sites to enrich the students' education and lives. These students are our future and they will take time today to learn about those who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives for the freedom of others.

If more students were exposed to this kind of real life history, the world would be a much better place. The next generations would understand the importance of standing up for what you believe in. That's certainly what these young men (and women - yes, there are a few women buried in our cemeteries) did for the people of Europe and the United States. They were young and only starting out in their lives and they were thrown into a war that no one could be prepared for by the little training they received prior to being sent over here.

These young people left behind mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, wives and children. They each had a story. Some of the stories have been recovered and will be shared today. Some of their stories have been lost forever due to the passage of time.

The young people coming to visit today are only a year or two younger than many of those who are buried here in this special place. I'm hopeful that they all learn something about this visit that will stay with them throughout their entire lives. I'm hopeful that the importance of those that came before them impacts them and motivates them to be strong and courageous young men and women of our future.

Day 22: It's all about food! What 50 Euro will buy!

Shopping on a Sunday morning in Belgium is hard to do. I realized I needed to pick up a few things at our neighborhood grocery store. I knew from prior checking that it is only open in the morning but I was glad to see that it was open at all!  Intermarche is a grocery chain and our store recently was remodeled so it is a real treat to go there and see what interesting things I can find to bring home and try.

I was planning to make mussels for lunch and needed to get a baguette so I could have some of it to soak up the yummy broth. I also wanted to get some fresh potatoes and some of their steaks that are cut from Chateaubriand because we've decided they are much better than anything we can buy at the commissary on base. So here is a picture of what 50 Euro will buy you:

You can see the baguette, a bag of soft little sandwich rolls, potatoes, steaks, a wonderful 1.6 kilo roasting chicken, 2 bags of elicoidali shaped pasta, surimi salad, Halloween (!) pumpkin salad and a small bottle of white wine to add to my mussels. The chicken by itself was 12 Euro and the steaks were just under 5 Euro each. If you wonder if it's expensive to shop here, it really isn't.

The chicken is a bit expensive but it was really wonderful! We had it for dinner last night roasted in a pan with potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic - really, really good! It was such an easy dinner to make! I preheated the oven to 400 degrees F. (or 200 C.) and rinsed and dried the chicken placing it in the middle of the roaster and surrounded it with cut up potatoes, carrots, whole garlic cloves and one cut up onion. I doused it all with olive oil and sprinkled on salt and pepper and crushed rosemary. An hour later, it was done and we had a really good dinner. Bear in mind that I got home just before 5 and I assembled this and popped it into the oven and let the oven do most of the work. You could use baby carrots that come already cleaned in the bags but I wanted to have bigger pieces this time. I didn't peel the potatoes so they added a rustic flavor to the dish. I meant to take a picture of it before and after but forgot! It was too yummy to wait and take a picture!

The pasta was used in our dinner on Sunday night. The boys were out on the golf course in the misty rain all morning long and, when they got home, I made them a big pot of pasta with prosciutto. They were very happy to dive into that!  I take butter and melt it in a pot with diced onions and get them all nice and tender and then add the cut up or torn up prosciutto and stir that around. Then I add about a cup of chicken broth to that to give it some body and then add it to the cooked and drained pasta mixing it thoroughly and adding parmesan cheese as I mix it. It's an easy dinner and really delicious.

The surimi and pumpkin salads are for my lunch this week. The surimi I've had before and it's one of my favorites. I haven't tried the Halloween pumpkin salad yet. It's the first time I've seen this here and I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not. It says it has pumpkin, viande (meat - but what kind???) and mais (corn). It might be good, and it might not. I'll let you know! But here's a picture of it because I couldn't make things like this up!

I really like shopping at our local stores. You can pick up local foods that aren't available at the commissary that make living in Europe interesting. Why just eat the same old food you can get anywhere in the U.S. when you can choose from wonderful things at the deli or get different cuts of meat (like the chateaubriand) or try different cuts of meat like veal (never available at the commissary), unusual sausages (merguez, artisanale, etc.), duck breasts (so good broiled), lamb and rabbit. All of these are available already wrapped and ready to take home. It makes cooking an adventure and opens up all sorts of recipes that you might not try otherwise!

Bon appetit!

Day 21 on Day 24... Blogging Clumsily

On September 6, I signed up for the Clumsy Bloggers Workshop based on the recommendation of Jen Hatmaker.  For those who have already read some of her books or have followed her blog or her page on Facebook, you will know that she is like your favorite girlfriend talking to you and sharing stories about life and faith. She's funny and irreverent and serious all at the same time. She's real!

Well, here we are, nearing the end of October and also one week away from the end of the 31 day writing challenge. I don't know if I've made progress or not in my writing but I do know that the workshop and the support of fellow Clumsies have really encouraged me and helped me feel like I can do this thing. I still don't feel like my posts are as well written as most that I see but I don't feel like giving up. When we share questions and thoughts and posts on the Facebook page, we get great feedback which is really helpful as we go along this journey. We are all clumsy in one way or another and this group of people have helped to smooth the path a bit.

The workshop itself is great! I'm glad I signed up for it. You receive a section each week via email to focus on in order to improve your blog. Micah has organized it in a way that it isn't too much to handle or understand and you can get through it in one week easily. For those of us who are balancing family and work and this thing we like to do, it is just right in length and you have the time you need to sit with your blog and tweak it and work towards a better product.

I am running behind on the 31 Day writing challenge but have good company with a few others who are still fighting the good fight and making an effort to try to get caught up and be able to say that we could do this thing. Following through and completing a task like this is a lot like climbing a mountain.

Step by step, handhold by handhold we go up the mountain. Inch by inch, foot by foot we are gaining on the goal at the end - the peak of the mountain or the last day of the month which is also Halloween. I have a feeling that many of us who have undertaken this challenge will be celebrating that we made it .... TO THE END!

Day 20 Faith and the Mustard Seed

Day 20 was Tuesday and I didn't post a thing that day but I will consider this post Tuesday's and continue writing until I can finally shout:

Hallelujah it's the 31st!!!

Last week I talked about the book Simply Tuesday. I like things to follow a theme so this Tuesday post will be a little about what was shared so far in the book.  As I was reading along, I came upon a section around page 32 about the kingdom of God being one inch above the ground (a different concept than what we usually think of, right?).

FYI -- I live in Belgium and have been living in Europe continuously since 2001. In Europe, you will see large fields of these beautiful yellow flowers. They are breathtaking even when the skies are gray which happens a lot more than when they are blue. We didn't know what these flowers were at first but finally asked someone and were told that they are rapeseed and the crops are an important source for vegetable oil.  If you Google "rapeseed" you will find out that it is also known as oilseed rape and is in the mustard or cabbage family. In the book, they talk about this little white house off of Highway 38 and there is a rapeseed crop that surrounds this little house. The author used this picture in her mind of this home surrounded by yellow and decided that the kingdom of God surrounds her just like this crop did with the house. It is a good visual to help you think about life around you and God's kingdom.

This led me to thinking about mustard seeds and how tiny they are. Here's a picture of just one little mustard seed in a glass container. It is really small. Of course, many of us have heard the story of faith the size of a mustard seed being all that you need. That amount of faith is sufficient to please God.

The definition of the word "Faith" is 1) allegiance to duty or a person; fidelity to one's promises; sincerity of intentions; 2) belief and trust in and loyalty to God; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust; and 3) something that is believed especially with strong conviction, especially: a system of religious beliefs.

The disciples questioned Jesus after he healed a boy who had been afflicted with seizures. The disciples weren't able to heal the boy but Jesus could. They said "Why couldn't we drive it out?" and he replied:

"You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." Matthew 17:20 NLT

If you look at the definition of Faith again, you will see that it means "fidelity to one's promises." We all know that it is so important to keep your promises. People are relying on us to keep our word. Well, human beings are fallible but God always keeps his promises. His love for us is never ending. What a great feeling!

So often we are faced with situations where we don't have enough faith or trust in God to make it through a challenge or struggle. If we can only remember the tiny mustard seed and give the struggle to God, He will give us an answer on how to move forward. All we need to do is muster faith the size of a mustard seed and give it up to God. He makes all things possible.

I'm going to use that faith and continue working at this promise I made to myself to continue writing every day this month to complete the challenge. Now where did that little mustard see go???????? 

Day 19 Hope

Hope. Hope is a noun that means longing; dream

It's Monday. It's the start of a new week.

It's a good feeling, if you start out feeling hopeful. Mondays can be hard days to conquer. We have to get back to our normal routine and walk away from the peace and relaxation we had over the weekend. Many do not like Mondays for those reasons.

We have a choice in our lives -- will we be optimistic or pessimistic?

I think hope is an optimistic thing and I'd much rather be positive than negative. My choice is hope and optimism.

What are you longing for? Are you longing to be happy? Are you longing to have less stress in your life? Have hope and give these longings to God.

If you have hope, you feel expectant. You anticipate good things with a belief that they will come to you. You have a confident faith in God that he has good plans for your days.

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. 

Psalm 119:114

If you put Monday's hope in God's hands, you will find good things waiting for you. God has your back and he loves you.

I'm doing it today -- will you?

Day 18 Volunteers are Important!

Volunteers are important!  So many groups are made up entirely of volunteers. We have groups at our school like the Booster Club for sports and the Elementary PTO and Middle/High School PTA. In the community, we have American Spouses' Club and the International Spouses' Club. There are also Lodges, church groups and Boy and Girl Scouts. All of these groups are run by volunteers.

*****************************************************

Why am I talking about this you might ask? Well, back in 2004, I started volunteering with PTA at our school in the South of France. That was the start of something big. It was bigger than me and it lit a fire that started as a glimmer and eventually was a roaring bonfire. Before this time, I worked full-time as a legal secretary and didn't have much free time on my hands.

I never knew what hit me! I enjoyed being involved and making a difference and helping make things happen at the school. Little did I know where it would all lead. I made friends, really great people who came from so many different places -- far from my hometown. I played flute with my friend, Nicole, on accordion at our Spring Fair - it was so much fun and I can see her smile and hear her telling me how I "played well from the paper" (she is German and meant sightreading). This was just the start.

We moved back North to the Netherlands and darned if they didn't need help with the Elementary PTA. I started out as Secretary and almost immediately slid into the President's chair due to a glitch (thanks Carmen!). Three years later and I finally took off that hat. Meanwhile, I was on the board of PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) which is a fantastic women's ministry which I talked about before. I made so many good friends there and across Europe just by volunteering a bit of my time. Actually, it was a lot of time but it was a labor of love so it didn't seem like so much. Our son was in Cub Scouts and they needed a little help so I did what I could from time to time including being secretary on our council. Taking minutes isn't a job, right?  The end result of this period of time was getting a plaque for being Family Member of the Year which really meant I put in a lot of hours for our community, for our kids, for our ladies and for myself. It was a good investment. All of these things were important and had a lot of value. Our volunteer hours have value. They are priceless!

The programs that are run by volunteers are really important! They fill in the holes that are left from cuts in our military programs overseas. They also provide rich opportunities for our children and family members to have while living far from home. Some programs also have charitable missions which give those who participate a chance to help others. These opportunities are limited when we live in a small military community in a foreign country. Often it is hard to find people to volunteer because so many times people volunteer in more than one group. This is common in a small community and contributes to the problem of feeling burnt out from the work. It happens...

But why am I talking about volunteering?  

Well, the reason I'm able to blog these 31 days is because I am now free of all of those volunteer jobs. I am finally not on any boards, not teaching Sunday School or leading any evening programs. I'm just being a wife and mom, driving 500 miles a week to school/work and trying to find my way in the world of blogging. It's a season of rest from outside involvement. I have a feeling I'm not done volunteering, yet. But for now, I'm taking a break and taking time to smell the roses and appreciate some time to ponder the good things in life!

Day 17 Why are we doing this???

On one hand taking on a blogging challenge when you've only written a handful of posts is ludicrous. On the other hand, it's like throwing down the gauntlet to prove that you can do it.  That's where I am today.

I've been running one day behind this past week on the 31 Days of Writing for the month of October. It's not for lack of things to write about because I definitely live in an interesting and unusual place and have lots of crazy things happening daily. It's probably because I'm part of a group of people known as Clumsy Bloggers who are still working to find their voice and get their fingers into a groove.

Today is Sunday the 18th and I'm working on Day 17. One dog is sitting next to me whining (or winging as the Brits say - guess which dog that is - could it be Butch our British/Italian adoptee?).  He's laying half on the couch and half on the arm of my recliner sort of uncommitted to either piece of furniture. You could say that's how I feel about some of my ideas for posts - on the fence!

Sundays are wonderful here. When we aren't driving over to Chapel which ends up occupying the entire day with lunch and then shopping on base, I have a whole long day of nothingness to occupy me. The possibilities of what to do are endless! Meanwhile, the day is ticking past along with all of those maybe's. Sometimes it is enough to just do nothing. It's good to do nothing when your days are filled to the brim with somethings.

Back to the blogging though... Words are easy. Words on the page are logical. Making them interesting is the hard part. Making them jump to life and have meaning to others is hard too. Not wanting to delete them and start again with a clean page is something you have to stop yourself from and just keep moving forward. The fear that is within that makes us question what we want to say and the judgment of others is what causes that paralysis though. Does anyone really care about what I'm writing? Is it good enough? Those are the big questions really and then we think that there's no reason to even be doing this... and we're back to square one...

Day 16 Friday Date Night in Belgium (in the Netherlands)

Friday date night in Belgium for us began with a trip to Maastricht, NL for dinner at Gaucho's Grill Restaurant with our son ("plus another guy"). 

It was a slow drive from home through Liege along the river just after 4 pm and we made it to Maastricht around 5:30. An earlier dinner meant we could make it to the movies at Foroxity in Sittard.

This dinner at Gaucho's was a long time planned and attempted and finally accomplished. The first and second times we tried to go were in September when I was having vertigo issues. Thankfully that is a thing of the past and we made it there to enjoy wonderful Argentinean steaks in a great city. Our son was really looking forward to the 500 gram steak (about 1.1 pounds) and it was as good as he remembered. We are never disappointed when we eat there! It's a bit pricey but the beef is worth every cent.

Out into the drizzling rain we went crossing the street in front of the restaurant, dodging bicycles and taxis and down into the parking garage which is conveniently located under the Vrijthof Square. It's our favorite place to park when visiting Maastricht. We often go to hear the Zuid Nederland Philharmonie and the theater is right there. If you want to do some shopping, it's also right close to the pedestrian shopping area and the outdoor market which is held on Friday and Saturday. This is the square where they have their Christmas market with a Ferris wheel and ice skating rink which should be added to your list of places to visit! It's a wonderful place to see all year round!

Our GPS directed us through Geleen to get to the movie theater and, of course, we came upon road construction. This Fall, it seems like they are digging everywhere in the Netherlands. There are very few places that we go that aren't affected by detours. It's really frustrating and it takes longer to get where you're going. 

Finally we reached the movie theater and ran in through the rain to get our tickets to The Martian. We stopped at the snack stand for drinks and candy even though we were stuffed from our dinner. The choices in Europe are a bit different than in the States: coffee in china cups, beer in frosty mugs, and the usual popcorn and candy offerings.

One big difference in going to the movies here is that they pause halfway through the movie for intermission -- no matter how long the movie is -- so that people can go get more snacks and visit the bathroom... It's definitely a great way for them to make more money... We think it's crazy but it is wonderful to be able to go to movies in English so it's a good trade off! Last night though, there was a scene in the movie where the actors were speaking Chinese and the subtitles were in Dutch so we were pretty much in the dark. You could guess what was being said but not exactly. It didn't detract from the movie though because it was a for a minute or two and the movie was really good. I'd definitely see it again! 

They showed the preview for the new Star Wars movie coming at Christmas which we will see with our girl when she comes home for the holidays! We're really looking forward to that! Having all of the birdies in the nest is a really good thing!

What did you do for your Friday date night?

Day 15 Messenger is a Godsend!

Facebook Messenger is a lifeline when you have a daughter living across the ocean.

When we began this journey of living in Europe for an entire second career (after a military one), the kids were small. The years passed and they grew up as we moved from Belgium to the South of France, to the Netherlands and then to Italy. But we no sooner got to Italy and, 2 weeks later, one flew out of the nest all the way across the ocean to Pennsylvania for college. I flew across the ocean with her but returned empty armed and very sad on that big airplane.

Parenting and Adulting is hard. It's really, really hard. Some days it's all about kissing a scraped knee and the next day they are graduating from high school and ready to leap into the great unknown.

This morning, as I was getting ready to drive to work, my iPad dinged with a Messenger notification. It was our girl who lives in the big city of New York. Without this connection, I don't know how it would even be bearable. I know the whole reason we work so hard at parenting is to prepare our kids for adulthood and we want them to be self sufficient. I also know that our daughter is self sufficient and doing a great job of surviving in the big city.

I think though I'd like to live like they did in years past where families lived close to one another and were connected and always spent time together. Maybe I feel this way because the majority of my adult life I've lived far away from our families and our hometown. 

Moving from State to State and Country to Country can take a toll on you. Our lives are enriched by the variety of traditions and new things we learn about in each place but we lack strong, deep roots that support us in the hard times.

I'm really, really looking forward to the day when we all live at least on the same continent and I can jump into a car or onto a plane and get to my dear loved ones in a reasonable amount of time!

Meanwhile, I'll depend on Messenger and Skype and be glad for all of the technology we have at our fingertips where our loved ones can be there on our phone or computer screens and we can see them when we talk to them! 

I can only imagine how hard it was on my own mother when I said "I do" and walked back down the aisle with my military man. She wasn't part of the technology generation having been born in 1921 and we only had the landline telephones to connect us and snail mail. Boy, have times changed! Thank Goodness!

Day 14 and it's all about SOUP!!

It's Fall. When the weather turns chilly and the leaves are turning colors and falling to the ground, it's time to make warm and comforting food for our families.

What are your favorites??

Our family loves big pots of soup. A friend commented on my Facebook page that I should write a soup cookbook for all of the times that I post that I'm making soup for dinner! Up til then I didn't even realize that I make soup at least once a week!

One favorite of ours is Italian sausage soup. I just made it the other day. We came up with a recipe for it from a soup we used to order at a restaurant we loved. I'm sure it isn't exactly like that soup but it sure sticks to your ribs and warms you up!  We use tomato sauce and diced and crushed tomatoes for the base and then add cooked lentils, rice and a combination of mild and hot Italian sausage. A big pot is needed since we don't cook small amounts in our family. Italian seasoning, garlic powder and liberal amounts of coarse ground pepper and salt complete the recipe. Umm umm good! My golfers came home from a very cold day of golfing and really enjoyed having big bowls of it for dinner.

Another soup we make is Pennsylvania Dutch rivvel soup. Rivvels are made up of flour and egg which are mixed roughly together and then broken up or rubbed into small bits to be added to boiling chicken broth. We add chicken and potatoes to this soup to make it even more hearty. It was made by farm women who were pinching pennies and didn't want to make a big meal. It still filled in all of those empty spots in the hungry bellies of their families. It's almost like boiled chicken pot pie but not exactly. I know -- chicken pot pies are baked -- but the  Pennsylvania Dutch came up with a different way of making chicken pot pie and that was by rolling out the dough and cutting it into squares and dropping it into boiling broth. You can make baked chicken pot pie which is exactly what you think of when you think of pot pies but the boiled way is really delicious too!

Here's a nice soup from Belgium. It's made with endive which is something I think of when I think of Belgium. Here's the link to the recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/cream-of-belgian-endive-soup-138735.  This looks like  a pretty easy recipe with not too many ingredients. You can make it lighter by using skim milk or make it decadent by adding cream! I'm going to add this to my list of soups for this winter for sure! 

Bon Appetit!

Day 13 - Family ties

Lost identities...

When I was born, I was a part of the Zimmerman family who ran big, public swimming pools in three locations in our hometown. My daddy, Joe, was a builder and he built homes and also these large pools. 

I was born in 1957 and he died in 1964. I was only 7 years old. I can't even remember him other than from the few old black and white pictures we have of him.  We had a great life, as far as I knew. We lived in a ranch style home above the bathhouse of the Lincolnway Swimming Pool. I had the biggest backyard pool a kid could want! I think that's why I love Summer so much. Sun, swimming, music on the jukebox and being around the pool are good memories.

My daddy was an amazing man from what many people have told me. He served in the Army during WWII and then came back from the war and worked for his family. He was an avid hunter and sportsman loving archery and golf. I remember him making me a cut down 5 iron so that I could have my own golf club to play with. He also gave me a bamboo fishing pole that I caught lots of little sunnies with. There are pictures of these things so that's how they exist in my memory.

Another thing he was known for was his physical strength. He was part of the first men who worked out with Bob Hoffman and York Barbell. He could balance his brother on a chair on his chin and also had his brother climb up on a ladder and jump down onto his stomach. They were featured in Ripley's Believe it Or Not in the York Dispatch. I only wish I could have seen these things for myself.

After a while, he decided to stop building homes and went to work for a lumber company. One day near the end of October, while moving lumber around in the warehouse with a forklift, a load of hardboard became unbalanced and crushed him, killing him on impact. I was only 7 years old and my daddy was gone. I didn't understand. Our lives were changed forever.

Fast forward a few years, my mother remarried and the man she married adopted me so that I could have a father in my life and our names would be the same so kids wouldn't ask questions all the time about my name being different. At that point, my life changed. It's like my real dad was erased and I had never been part of the Zimmerman family at all. Families are strange and the adults don't always realize how their actions will affect the children. Our family had been Catholic but my mother couldn't continue practicing Catholicism because my new dad was previously divorced and his ex-wife was still living. If my mother didn't go to church, I was still pretty young and wouldn't go by myself so another big change occurred -- no more church. If you're Catholic, you understand what that would mean in your life.

I did go to church a few times with my friend, Beth, who went to York Gospel Center. That was a huge change from the Catholic church! We were at a service one evening and an older man with a very deep voice called out "Amen!" which scared the dickens out of me because no one spoke out individually in the Catholic church! I remember it to this day! We went to the youth group and I liked it there. They went to church because they wanted to - not because they had to. It was really different from the Catholic church and I missed that part of my life.

It's confusing when these things happen in your life. Those were big changes. They still resonate with me today. I think I feel this way because I have lived away from my family for the last 31 years in many different places due to my husband's military and now government service. Having shallow roots tends to contribute to the feeling of not be attached strongly anywhere.

How many of you feel this way? Have you had life changing circumstances happen that caused you to lose a part of you?  

Day 12: Just Another Monday in Belgium

Today is Columbus Day. It's a Federal holiday in the States. In Europe, it's just Monday.

For some of us, we actually have the day off from work. For others, it's just Monday and the treadmill rolls on. I worked in law offices for 26 years before we started this European saga and we NEVER were closed on these holidays. We got the normal big ones like 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas but NEVER Presidents' Day, Columbus Day or any of those "extra" days. We actually worked harder on those days because we could get ahead of court deadlines and filings. I used to tell my husband who was in the military that these weren't "real" holidays... he didn't agree since he definitely had off!

So now that I have this job that is a government contracted position, I get paid holiday pay for these days! What's not to like??

Living in Europe though means that any of these definitely American holidays are just another day of the week. It means that even on Thanksgiving we can go to the grocery store for last minute items that we may have forgotten. Of course, they don't have big turkeys (I'll be sharing the pictures again of our Italian teeny tiny turkettes) or canned pumpkin or cranberry sauce. They do have lots and lots of food which can be made into new traditions while living far from home.

We decided to forego making the big pot of Italian sausage soup until tomorrow and went to our new favorite pizzeria, Il Vulcano, just down the road in Rotheaux. I have fun trying new pizzas each time while the boys get their usual pizzas with jambon (ham) and salami piquant (closest thing to pepperoni). This time I tried the Diavolo which has tomato sauce, mozzarella, jambon, onions, red and yellow peppers. It never occurred to me that it made sense to have something Italian in honor of Columbus. It just happened. For those of you that are in favor of revising history and making a thing about all of the negative things that came from Columbus, it's your choice, but I'm not going there.

Doesn't this look great?

This is Fall break for our school so today was a day off for our son. He's glad to get a break because we have had a rough couple of months with wisdom teeth surgeries (no, they didn't believe in taking them all out in one surgery with the good drugs - nope, 2 at a time with longer recovery period). Also, finally starting the invisalign braces which is less dramatic than the metal ones but still a big step and requiring appointments away from school. Golf season meant missing a day each week for 3 weeks and then 2 days last week for Europeans... Then there was my couple of weeks of crazy with vertigo... It's been rough. We never had Fall or Spring break when I was in high school but I'm glad they do here because it means that I don't have to do my chauffeuring every day for a week!

So Happy Columbus Day or just Happy Monday everyone!

Day 11: Fall Break - Binging on White Collar and Neal Caffrey

Binge watching TV shows whether on DVD or Netflix is addictive.  I have watched Call The Midwife and was so disappointed when I realized it was the last episode. I'm always heartbroken when a series ends. How about you? This is something I can't help. I guess I become involved with the characters and their families and stories. The Gilmore Girls were my best friends for a while and I really wouldn't mind retiring to a town like Stars Hollow!

Now we're watching White Collar. What's not to like about Neal Caffrey? He's an attractive guy and, even though he usually have a con going while wearing an ankle monitor, we still have to like him! Peter and Elizabeth are the greatest couple. I love the way they add "Hon" in their conversations to let tell each other they are ok and say "I love you" without saying it straight out. And Mozzie... what a unique individual he is. I loved the episode where we found out how he got his name!  We're working our way through the seasons and are on Season 4 right now.

I did enjoy watching Suits on Netflix. It's a great show with a young guy who can look at something once and it's in his memory forever.  That's how he outsmarted the senior partners with years of experience. It would have been fun to have someone like him in the law offices where I worked!

The funny thing about Netflix for us in Europe is that different shows are offered than the ones in the States. If we just log in directly from the internet, we are seeing the Belgian or Dutch offerings. If we log in via Strong VPN (which blocks our local IP address and gives us one in the States), then it's just like we are in the States and we can log in on the US Netflix site. The bad thing about the VPN is that only one person can use it at a time. We sometimes compete for it with our son. Wouldn't you think the one that pays the bills would have priority... sometimes not... The one upstairs can be very persuasive! He may end up being an attorney one day!

So, tonight, the big TV is featuring the Eagles vs. the Saints via NFL.com and our computer attached to the TV. I'll be reading and catching up on ideas for future blogs. That is if I don't end up watching something on my laptop (with headphones, of course)!

What are you binge watching? Maybe I'll add it to my list!

Day 10: Fall break in Belgium

Fall in Belgium. Our weather usually cools off quickly as August reaches an end. September is often moody and it can be warm and then cooler without any warning. Now it is October. Fall is here. The leaves are changing and the colors are more vibrant this year. They are especially pretty along the river in Liege.  There are tons of bright red berries on the holly bushes. Does this forecast a hard Winter? Only time will tell.

Fall is my husband's favorite season. Cooler temperatures and football season make him happy.  We rotate our sweatshirts from Notre Dame and Penn State to the Philadelphia Eagles as the TV changes channels. Happily we have a good satellite and internet to bring us our favorite teams -- unless they play in the middle of the night and no DVR for us here... yet!

I'm a fan of all seasons and enjoy each one for their special traits. I love the Winter - cold temperatures and snow! The Spring for all of its rebirth and bright green colors. Summer is fun with time out in the warm sunshine and Fall with its crisp temperatures, apples and pumpkins, and colorful leaves.

The sun is shining today and I can hear the wind in the trees. It is a perfectly lovely day to spend at home by relaxing and letting the crock pot cook our beef roast and fall vegetables. Life is good! 

What is your favorite season?